Brett Armstrong's Blog, page 5

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

It’s been a pretty busy pair of weeks for me. I’ve been working pretty feverishly on final reviews of the interiors for both books I have releasing in September. I plan to talk about one on Tuesday (work requirements pushed back my planned post on that news), but tonight I want to talk about an important aspect of Quest of Fire: Desperation, which releases September 13th!

Throughout the Quest of Fire series there have been myriad monsters and villains the characters must face: The Grey Scourge, Wirgerd, Elder Ulster, werebeasts, sombra, doppelgangers, direnoir, carrion, etc. Each darkling creature encountered brings special terrors and cruelties which test the characters allegiance to the High King of All Realms and devastate the Lowlands. There’s been a major question at hand, however, as there is a dark force directing these attacks. Who is behind it all? Desperation gives the name of this evil entity’s foremost henchman whose schemes threaten to destroy the Lowlands irrevocably in both Anargen and Jason’s eras and begins pulling back the curtain on the evil behind it all.

And… that’s all I can say for now lest I start spoiling things for Desperation and what comes after it. What I can say is that each monster faced represents something of the harsh realities we face in the real world. We don’t often want to consider it, but there are monsters lurking in our world. Sometimes we feel we can identify them easily such as when you hear about the brutal murders happening in Nigeria as Boko Haram and other groups target Christians there. Other times they’re more insidious in their presentation, lurking among us masquerading even as fellow believers, but secretly preying on widows, orphans, and other vulnerable people in society—the very sort of people to whom we are called to give special care. Then still others swarm around tugging, pulling, battering us back from the path we are called to walk and pulling our eyes off the City we are called to look forward to and instead dragging us into dissolution.

Creatures from Quest of Fire were inspired by those sorts of adversaries faced in the real world. I feel very strongly that fiction can help us to face in story the very sorts of terrors that can be much harder to face in the real world. It can help prepare us, bolster us for showdowns with challenges as we run the race of faith. Sometimes we forget that we’re called to persevere and that we haven’t yet reached the finish, we take for granted that all will be well and easy. Really everything about the broken world we live in strikes out at us, slowing us and if possible, pulling us from the course. My prayer is that the stories I write, whether Quest of Fire or any of the others help give the reader the courage and reminder that dark things can be faced and overcome by the light of the High King of All Realms. That we can hold true even when things seem bleak beyond bearing and the enemies standing against us are vicious and terrifying. That no matter what wicked thing comes across our path if we keep our eyes fixed on the Author and Perfecter of our faith, we will emerge victorious.

UP NEXT TUESDAY: THE BIG REVEAL

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: REALM MAKERS

So, it’s been a couple weeks since my last post and it’s with good reason. Two weeks ago, I had my family vacation and attended the Realm Makers writers conference. Since then I’ve had a flurry of things to get done in advance of the four book releases I have later this year (YEAH, FOUR!). With so many good things it might seem strange that I’m thinking about running, but just bear with me and hopefully I’ll make some sense.

Writing conferences are a wonderful intersection of dichotomies. For instance, if you’ve gone to one you’ve been to every one of them. Yet, every one of them is distinct and valuable. They consciously stir in you the core and purest urges as a writer in an exciting way, even if you unconsciously already were acting on those urges and core tenets in the proper way. It’s a strange refueling process that you’re hard pressed to believe until you’re actively participating in one. It helps having authors like Tosca Lee and James L Rubart deliver key notes that detail the challenges they overcame in order to reach the level of success they have in their careers.

At a Christian fiction writers conference, it’s also encouraging to be reminded that success for believers doesn’t reside within the scope of financial or critical success but in fulfilling the calling God has placed on your life. It can be difficult to say impacting a single reader is a worthwhile career, particularly if that one reader was in your immediate family or friend circle. But if that impact is in their relationship with Christ the importance and potency of that impact has eternal reverberations.

I’ve taken a bit to post this in large part because of how busy I’ve been, but also because I realized at a certain point I wanted to take a breath and have some perspective on what a conference is and isn’t. The paragraphs above were how I felt and wrote the week of the conference, while I was still freshly infused with optimism and renewed zeal. But coming home is like stepping out of Willy Wonka’s factory back onto the grimy streets of industrialized London again. And I think that’s healthy, because conferences are as I said a boost, but boosts fade over time. They’re not the whole race.

Events likes conferences can encourage and pick you up, but they can’t run the length of the course or get you to the end you’re seeking. Not even if they end in a new book contract, landing your dream agent, or making great connections that last throughout your career. Life and the nature of publishing ensure that there will be hurdles and trips and falls and heat and booing from onlookers and side stitches and shin pain and all manner of adversities that will make you want to quit. A week after the conference those hard realities already began to hit me and that conference high looks so far away now.

But I wasn’t running to get to that conference peak. Just like I’m not running to get my next book released or written or win an award or hit the bestseller lists. I’m not even running to make a career of ticking off that list of achievements. Writing, like every facet of my life, is part of a bigger race, the biggest in fact. The one that leads towards a city unlike any other and to which I’ll race till the last of my days knowing I’ll never reach there on my own. It’s the race the Apostle Paul spoke of in his letter found in 2 Timothy. The race of faith. Every endeavor is another step on that path or it’s a detour from it. My prayer and aim is that I use what I learned at the conference and the perspective from it to keep my eyes on Jesus the Author and Perfecter of my faith, through Whom, with Whom, and for Whom every word I write, or will, and every step I take is devoted. Remembering that makes the road ahead look so much more bearable. I hope it’s one you’re on as well.

UP TUESDAY: SOMETHING NEW!

UP NEXT WEEK: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: THE ISLAND

It’s another late-night post for this Quest of Fire Friday, and I have to admit that the past couple weeks it’s been rough getting things posted because of busyness in life. In fact, I had all but decided not to post at all last week, but I felt like the Lord was leading me to it so I pressed on. Last week ended up being the best received post I’ve had in a while. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Lord was rewarding my doing something I feel He led me to with post engagements, but I’d like to believe it’s a sign that what He laid on my heart impacted others. So, I’m going to try my best to not fall slack on these.

This week I’d like to start talking about a place of particular importance to Quest of Fire: Tislatna. For those steeped in the series already, you’ll recognize that name pretty quickly because it comes up quite a bit. The first mention came in Succession, but it is the source of shadows from Shadows at Nightfall and mentioned many times in that book. Like many other things in the series, Tislatna is a motif for the influence of the past and how events can send out ripples into the waters of time far into the future.

An inset of the western Lowlands map with what’s left of the once enormous Tislatna Isle.

Tislatna in the series so far has been by intentions a mysterious place. Not much is given away except that both bad and good things came from it and that it was pretty tragically destroyed for the depths of evil it had descended into. Among them being the dark sorceries which created the Sombra—the arcane assassins who can merge in and out of shadows and make both Anargen and Jason’s lives difficult. As well as the incantations and black magic of goblins/dark elves.

In Quest of Fire, wyverns are beasts, not inherently evil though they do have a bit of a cruel streak and are vicious when provoked. But on Tislatna they used rituals involving human sacrifice to infuse wild wyverns with goblins and through it create dragons, which are terrifying and malevolent and wickedly crafty. Which is worse than it may sound on the surface, because goblins in Quest of Fire are far more insidious than what appears in Tolkien’s Middle Earth and definitely not like the miserly sort from Harry Potter. Goblins are a rebellious group of the High King of All Realm’s first servants, the elves—which is why they’re also known as dark elves. Created to be creatures of light, they instead rose up against the High King and were banished into darkness. Potent and malignant, their aim is to shatter the High King’s control of the Lowlands and erase his light from it forever. By engaging with such creatures and even revering them, Tislatna stepped into a dark it could not recover from and was obliterated.

 I can’t give away too much yet of what happened there and what it all means, but the lost island and the civilization that once thrived on it are repeatedly mentioned in Shadows at Nightfall and in subsequent entries to be released—like the upcoming book Desperation—as being the originator of many familiar societies in the Lowlands, like Ecthelowall and Zilnen. Part of the positivity towards Tislatna results from the group of survivors who were noble hearted and escaped its destruction, among them Cinaed, whose heroism was long remembered and celebrated. I alluded to the mythic status to which the name Cinaed had reached in my previous post, “” The heritage of Tislatna then becomes a source of both evil and good for the Lowlands. Those influences and how the mystery of Tislatna is unraveled will only continue to increase as the series progresses. So, there’s still a lot more to be said and revealed about this island that was inspired in part by the Biblical stories of the world prior to Noah’s flood and the Tower of Babel.

UP NEXT WEEK: AT REALM MAKERS

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Recently while reading a review of Shadows at Nightfall I saw that that particular reader had caught on to one of the major mysteries of the series and a source of tension for Jason during much of the book: who is Cinaed the Storyteller?

When Jason first meets Cinaed he’s just an old man telling wild stories in a little inn Cinaed owned. Over time, however, he comes to wonder if he’s much more, because the story Cinaed tells mentions Sir Meredoch MacCowell who went by the alias Cinaed. Sir Meredoch did so to preserve anonymity, and Jason couldn’t help drawing parallels between the personalities and character of each man. The problem with linking them is that Cinaed the Storyteller would have to be over 400 years old to be the same Cinaed as from the story.

With his world upended, Jason is willing at first to take leaps, eventually wondering if a still older Cinaed from the Lowlands history, Cinaed of Tislatna, might be the very one regaling him with adventurous tales, which would make Cinaed at least 2500 years old!

Here’s an early sketch of Cinaed the Storyteller at Black River Inn, Brackenburgh.

What does it matter who Cinaed is? For Jason, the Knights of Light, the Quest of Fire, and the High King of All Realms are still on the edge of fantasy. At once too marvelous to be true and too terrifyingly real in his life. If Cinaed did prove to be 400 years old and all the more if he’s the original heroic Cinaed that is regarded as pure myth by most, then suddenly he thinks it will be safe to believe it all and his role in everything makes sense. Being drawn into this Quest by such a being would help to ground the wonder of it all into reality. It would also raise so many questions about who Aria, the storyteller’s granddaughter and Jason’s girlfriend, really is as well. All of it would also make Jason’s involvement seem precipitous, monumental, imperative. In short, Jason himself would be special.

So, what is in a name? Depending on who is behind the name it changes everything. Much like we can, Jason’s motivations from and convictions about Cinaed and what it means for him end up going askew and losing their nobility. But the notion that the veracity of a fantastical reality is grounded in the nature of the person at its heart is an important concept for our world as well.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[a] by which we must be saved.” — Acts 4:12 (ESV)

Our world has a still more marvelous Person Whose identity is imperative to understand. God walked among His Creation as a man, suffered and died to secure atonement for the rebellions of mankind against the Creator. It is made still more astounding by the return to life by the God Man of His own will. We are taught that relying upon those efforts and yielding to and accepting the Name to which these acts belong, Jesus Christ, will result in our own spiritual, and eventually physical, resurrection. In the name of Jesus Christ restoration longed for from the beginning will become a reality. Such an incredible thing wholly rests upon the One Name and the One Who alone is worthy of all the honor and glory and praise (Revelation 5:9-14).

Who we are makes sense and becomes intensely precious when we recognize Christ for Who He is and trust that as marvelous as it may seem, it is—He is—real and true.

UP NEXT WEEK: THE ISLAND

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: STAR-CROSSED LOVERS

“‘You strolled in out of the rain, and I never saw this—’ she took both his hands in hers and gave them an insistent tug. She waited till his eyes met hers. ‘—coming. I grew up with stories of Tislatna’s Cinaed and Elena, Ordumair II and Alessia, and Anargen and Seren. I never held hope that I would find someone to love.’

Heartbeat quickening, reason grew silent in the shadow of such enormous words. Jason swallowed with some difficulty and said, ‘And you’ve found that someone?’

She smiled half-mischief, half-contentment, ‘Maybe.’

…

He grinned and laughed… ‘You could have warned me about the spoiler of Anargen and Seren getting a happily-ever-after ending.’

Aria frowned and was suddenly more reserved. ‘Only one of the three couples I mentioned got something like a happy ending. It was the quality of their love, not its length, that I’ve wanted.’” — Quest of Fire: Shadows at Nightfall, Tenth Interlogue

Among the couples Aria mentions, it’s difficult to say which has the most impact on the Quest of Fire series. Certainly Anargen and Seren have the most pages about them (at least for now). I’ve shared precious little about Cinaed and Elena from Tislatna and only hinted at the importance of that civilization (at least for now). But what about Ordumair II and Alessia? They get mentioned in The Gathering Dark and Succession, because of their story’s impact on the plots of the respective novels they’re mentioned in, but the impact of their relationship majorly shaped the history of the Lowlands in the Middle Era. To understand the relationship between Ords and Ecthels, it’s pretty critical to know what took place between this couple:

So, this week I’m sharing a look at some of the history I’ve written up for the dwarfs of Ordumair. It reads a bit like an old historical text (which is intentional), as this is supposed to be a kind of meta-document for the series and the Eachdraidh is referenced in Quest of Fire: Succession as the authoritative history the Ords collected about themselves, so I hope you enjoy this first look at this incredibly important couple, whose relationship helped shape the Middle Era Lowlands for centuries:

Eachdraidh Orderer (Histories of the Ords)

Love and Loss of Ordumair II (Part 1)

Nearly three centuries after the passing of Ordumair I, another leader of the Orderer people was given that name.  The youthful Thane of Ords Ordumair II was every bit the promising ruler his namesake had been centuries earlier.  He was a skilled hunter, speaker, warrior, and caring benefactor of his people.  There were few among the Ords who could speak ill of him and say to the contrary that he was as beloved as any leader they’d had.  It was this good-heartedness and intense will to secure his people’s safety which inevitably would be the means of his enemies engineering his greatest harm. 

When Ordumair the II, or Ordumair the Bear, as he was called for his rugged countenance, unusual size and strength, and unwavering valor in battle; took up the title of Thane, he was shortly faced with a dilemma without precedence in the history of his people.  As the Orderer realm expanded southward for better farmlands and open fields of strong, hale grains, their borders came to intersect regional trade routes. These carried the alluring and new possibility of prosperity never before known by their people. In seizing the opportunity, their lands now came perilously close to adjoining and overtaking the equally prosperous and expansive colonies of Ecthelowall. 

Each of the two domains would soon be in competition for the same lands if measures were not taken to avoid such a catastrophe.   Though many of the elder Ords lamented that war with the Ecthels could not be avoided, Thane Ordumair, being a Knight of Light and descended directly from Ordumair I who had been so sagaciously advised by an Ecthel Knight Errant, was unwilling to consider this proposition.  Instead, he travelled to Ecthelowall’s capital, Ecthalon, to consult the Count of Ecthelowall, Alfred the White. 

Alfred the White, called so for being extraordinarily pale and advanced in years, welcomed the Thane gladly.  Also a Knight, the Count was more than content to speak with such an honest and unwaveringly determined young man as the Thane.  The wise old man also recognized that his years were short, and if he did not act swiftly himself, the decision on how to proceed in the matter would fall to his heirs and he had little peace about that possibility. 

While negotiations stretched on, Thane Ordumair was treated as a guest of the Count, and permitted to reside within his manorial estate in the Castle of Stalwart Timbers.  An ancient keep that had served the very first Count of Ecthelowall who had united the Ecthel peoples many centuries prior.  By Ordumair II’s day, little remained of the hardy wooden motte and bailey structure, but in its place an elaborate and imposing fortress of light grey stonework had been constructed.  Within lay the manorial estate of the Count, and the orchard of Golden Leaves.  This orchard contained a very special tree, whose name is no longer remembered by Ords, Ecthels, or any in the Lowlands.  But their magnificent beneficence to health and nutrition were comparable to those of the cool pool of water Ordumair I discovered that fateful night long before.

While walking amongst these trees, with their vibrant aurous leaves, Thane Ordumair II was smitten by the beauty of a damsel he found seated under one of the trees, reading by herself.  Her auburn hair was like a flame drawing a moth, or perhaps the single beacon of a lighthouse drawing in a ship to port from the loneliness of the sea.  Whatever the simile, for the first time in his life, Ordumair felt the stirring of love in his chest. And moments after, another first befell him as “The Bear’s” courage failed him and he retreated.

Several nights later, Ordumair II attended the wedding for Laird of Albaron to Alessia’s elder sister. Seeing Alessia again, he knew he was inescapably smitten with her.

In accordance with long past Albaron celebratory customs, a contest of boasts was proposed. Each boast if challenged must then be met and Ordumair won by lifting onto his shoulders an ornate oak bench with Alessia and two others on it. His choice of boast and expectation of its challenge weren’t by chance. Suitably impressed, Alessia requested a dance with the Thane.

As they participated in a traditional Ecthel dance, it became obvious Ordumair neither knew the customs of Ecthelowall, nor was he particularly graceful. Amused at his stumbling, Alessia commented to him, “You know, strength of arms isn’t what impresses a maiden of Ecthelowall most. They most cherish wits and wholesome character”

Sensing she was being coy he replied, “Is it maidens of Ecthelowall who so cherish those virtues, or you fair lady?”

Ordumair II’s was not the only one whose heart longed for Alessia’s favor. A cousin and potential heir to Ecthelowall’s throne, Ferderic had his eyes on her. Seeing the spark between the impressive dwarf and feisty lady of court, he instigated another boasting contest. This time one centered on poetic composition.

Her cousin composed an elaborate, beautiful sonnet that Ordumair realizes he cannot compete with and shouldn’t try. When his turn arrived, he merely said, “Without doubt, I have seen only one thing in this world deserving of more praise for its beauty than the words you speak: the fair Lady Alessia, and her sister, in all their graces. I have heard no words so beautiful as yours. Perhaps because I have never partaken anything so beautiful. We scarce have anything to compare in my homeland as yours save the taste our rich mead and majestic mountains. Had I something to compare, then perhaps I could compete with you, noble sir. But I have felt the beauty of my smallness when comparing my might to the High King’s and so am no stranger to the radiance of admitting myself inferior, second, to another. You have well-claimed victory this night, Federic and brought honor to your uncle Count Alfred.”

Alessia responds quietly while others congratulate Federic, “Perhaps the most impressive boast I’ve yet heard. I must visit the country that could craft a heart such as yours.”

               Thus began a courtship worthy of a bard’s finest verse. Alessia’s personality proved every bit as vibrant as her stark green eyes, which only the Ord Bear could match. It took some time for Count Alfred to accept that his youngest daughter, born to him late in life and dearest to him had so soon fallen in love after giving away his elder daughter. But his reluctance to part with his daughter seemed a small thing before the couple’s love. When the Thane petitioned the Count for their betrothal the old Ecthel knew his daughter’s heart had already chosen for him.  He agreed to the marriage, which was carried out immediately. 

The treaty between the two peoples was signed and Ordumair brought his new bride back with him to the blossoming capital city of Ordumair.  As part of Alessia’s dowry, the Count sent several saplings from the Orchard of Golden Leaves to be planted in the Ord capital, so his daughter might always have with her a token of her home. Most pointedly, Alessia gave Ordumair a gift of her own, the Signet of Thanes, as a wedding ring at their marriage ceremony.

All was well until the good and venerable Alfred the White passed away.  In his place, his nephew Ferderic became Count and with this came great tragedy.

UP NEXT WEEK: WHAT’S IN A NAME?

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: FESTIVAL!

For today’s post it’s a tale of two festivals. One fictional, a bit of lore surrounding a festival in the world of Quest of Fire. The other a real life one coming this year. Feel free to read on about one or both. The WVBF header is about the real world festival and Solaris is the fictional one:

SOLARIS

The largest event of the summer, Falconcleft’s Solaris Festival, celebrated the harvest of sunfruit from the rocky cliffs it was built atop, coinciding with the summer solstice. There were thousands of visitors from all over Libertias present for the week-long festivities.
“What are we doing here?” Caeserus muttered, barely audible over the din.
“Oh, stow it,” Bertinand chided and devoured a sunfruit strudel bite. “You’ve been sulking ever since we got here. Two days is enough. Just clap, why don’t you?”
“Because we’re on a quest, not a holiday!”
“Actually, we’re on both,” Cinaed said as he strode up to the group.
“How do you figure that?” Caeserus replied, making no discernible attempt to temper his annoyance.
“We are masking our movements for those watching within these crowds.” Cinaed’s brows furrowed, and he pointed out towards the city beyond. “And, there is something amiss here. I don’t know what yet, but I’m convinced there is something here the High King would have us see.” –Quest of Fire: Shadows at Nightfall, Chapter 7

Just before the Summer Solstice each year, the Libertian city of Falconcleft holds the Solaris Festival. The passage above gives a bit of insight into the festival’s significance in Anargen’s day. By then Solaris had become an integral part of Libertias’s social life. Tournaments, feasts, entertainment, and a host of other merrymaking events coincided with it. The origins of the festival were much humbler.

Sixty-two years earlier, Vellan, Falconcleft’s Count, was saddled with the task of organizing a welcome for the Baron of the Dag Votere and his family. The Dag Votere’s nation was at the height of its power and bordered Falconcleft. As the capital of the farthest north county in Libertias, Falconcleft needed to safeguard its precarious position as a means of survival. Vellan was given two days to prepare for the Baron’s arrival and was aware that it was customary to offer a gift to a noble of superior rank on first meeting. Falconcleft’s coffers were all but empty from building of new towers on the clifftop and hiring bands of mercenaries to deter incursions from the rising spectre of Knorland to the East of the Dag Votere.

There was little use in seeking support from the rest of Libertias. Even if messengers could have come and gone in time, Libertias as a whole was on edge. Privateer activity had increased and the likelihood of a new war against Ecthelowall was growing. Even the closest ally and influential Stormridge was struggling with court intrigues and plots from the shadows.

Added to it all, Vellan was a poor diplomat and generally droll. He had climbed to his station for his skills with defensive battle tactics. With a day left he had organized a tournament for sport, but it lacked a uniqueness that would suitably impress his guests. The morning before his guests arrived the Baron was drowning his sorrows in his hall. At best the Viscount of Libertias would force him to vacate his title. At worst, he would incense the Dag Votere and be caught between hostile forces of both the Dag Votere and Knorland. About this time his son came in from roving the forests around the city and presented him with a round red-orange fruit. Long held poisonous, his son was too young to understand what she was presenting him. Certain he was ruined, he took the wild fruit and devoured it.

Stunned by the sweetness and abundance of juice in it, Vellan immediately ordered that as much be harvested as could be found and used to prepare pastries and drinks. He asked his daughter what she wanted to call them. She suggested sunfruit, because they grew ripe in full sun around the summer solstice each year and had a glossy skin that shone more yellow-orange when in full light and darked to ruddier hues indoors.

The next day when the Baron and his family arrived, Vellan declared the first Solaris festival to be in honor of the Baron and his people. Vellan wasn’t aware the Dag Votere were known as “Guardians of the Day” nor that the sun was of particular significance in their symbology and culture. Though modest and hastily arranged, the festival was an overwhelming success and through it Falconcleft was granted special trade privileges with the Dag Votere. In time the festival and Falconcleft became more important. So important that when Count Eidolon was assessing means of expanding his influence, he found Falconcleft and its beautiful future countess, Fiona, as appealing as the sunfruits which grew there. A dark alliance formed, one which Anargen and his friends stumbled upon in Shadows at Nighfall.

WVBF

I’m really excited to share that I got confirmation that I will have a booth at the 2022 West Virginia Book Festival! Lord willing, this will be the first time there’s been an in person festival since 2019. The WVBF has been really special to me for some time. During trips home from WVU, I would see billboards for it and daydream about getting to go and maybe, possibly, someday be one of the authors talking about the craft of writing, discussing books, and sharing my books with fellow readers.

In 2015, I got my chance to join in. I had my first book, Destitutio Quod Remissio, with me and got to set up a booth and meet so many interesting people. I gave out book scrolls and candy Bibles to help people remember the debut author with an ancient Roman story of betrayal and forgiveness. I also had a couple signs promising new things on the horizon. Among them sample chapters from a dystopian sci-fi story I had in the works called Day Moon and an epic fantasy book called The Gathering Dark.

Those of you who already know my books will recognize those as the start to each of my two series. Two years later, I got to share Day Moon with readers at the fair and in 2019 I had the privilege of giving a world-building workshop centered around dystopian literature while debuting The Gathering Dark. Then, in 2021, I got to do another workshop, this time virtual, on world-building discussing story-telling across different time periods, based on my experiences with Day Moon and The Gathering Dark.

For me the WV Book Festival is a chance to reflect on how far I’ve come as a writer. An opportunity to meet new readers and share the stories I’ve loved discovering with them. Most of all it’s a tremendous reminder about how blessed I am to be able to write the stories the Lord puts on my heart. Though I’m not a headliner of any of the festivals I’ve been to, every one has been a gift, an affirmation, and source of incredible excitement for me. I hope to see you there!

http://www.wvbookfestival.org/

UP NEXT WEEK: STARCROSSED LOVERS

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: A HERO’S SACRIFICE

I’ve been working on this picture off and on for a while now. It’s from one of my favorite scenes in SHADOWS AT NIGHTFALL. I didn’t really do it justice, but I want to share it all the same because it’s one of the most personally important scenes in the series for me.

Without spoiling too much, from the title to today’s post, you can probably guess that one of the major characters from QUEST OF FIRE dies in this book. I won’t say who, but this character was originally based off of a family member I felt very close to growing up. That person died of cancer during the timeframe I was finishing up the first draft of SHADOWS AT NIGHTFALL, years ago. I was on the fence about having the character die, because in general I don’t like killing characters solely for shock value or capriciously. Of course, I hope the reader feels something about it, but I don’t want to do it for the sake of playing with reader emotions.

Yeah, this isn’t me.

After the family member died though I knew the character had to as well. The character had grown far beyond its initial inspiration, but the suddenness of the real-world loss and the horrible way cancer laid low someone who always seemed full of humor and life and strength hurt too deeply. I wanted to have a scene to say goodbye in which the character could honor my family member’s memory by giving their life heroically and in as epic a way as I could imagine.

So, in this scene in the background is a mountain range overlooking a deep valley with an enormous reservoir holding back a mountain river into a man-made lake. The beast in the scene is a long dormant wyvern awakened by dark sorcery to wreak destruction abroad. This scene captures the moment just after the wyvern blasted the reservoir retaining wall destroying where the hero character just stood. The character leaps an incredible distance out over the valley hundreds of feet below and plunges the spiritsword into the wyvern’s chest to the crossguard just as the wyvern delivers the final blow destroying the reservoir wall and both hero and felled beast drop into the valley as water and stone explode forth around them further sealing the wyvern’s end and ensuring that the other heroes have the best chance they can be given to escape the same terrible fate.

There are days as I’m working on the later entries in the series that I miss the character. There are so many adventures this character could have gone on, important series moments the others needed them for. But being real and telling a story that resonates and stays with a reader after finishing is important to me. Especially one that can better equip readers to face the wyverns of the real world by seeing their defeat in the pages of my books. It seems a fitting a sacrifice. A hero’s sacrifice.

Just as a reminder, print editions of books 2 and 3 in QUEST OF FIRE are over 80% off on Amazon. If anyone buys either book and messages me with a pic of it, I’ll send a signed bookplate for each copy purchased. The sale is likely to end soon, so now is a great time to pick up the whole series:

SEE THE SERIES

COMING UP NEXT WEEK: THE FESTIVAL!

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: COVER REVEAL

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Friday! Today is another Quest of Fire Friday, and as promised here is the cover and some fast facts on the next book in the QUEST OF FIRE saga:

Title: QUEST OF FIRE: DESPERATION

Book Number: 4

Release Date: September 13, 2022

Back Cover: While Anargen, Caeserus, and Bertinand are held captive in Stormridge, the war to restore Ecthelowall’s Commonwealth has been waged for months. Their friend Terrillian is on its frontline and hopes are high.

For Barons Fenwrest and Sornfold, the fight is too close to their children, whose union represents the only viable challenge to the Monarchists’ claim to Ecthelowall’s ancient throne. Enter Thomas Fenwrest, an orphan and page to Sir Hurstwell, who is captain of Baron Fenwrest’s guard. The pair must escort the teens to Castle Yerst expecting boredom to be their only danger. Everything quickly spirals out of control when the Monarchists somehow deliver a devastating blow to the Restoration army and Thomas and Sir Hurstwell face the increasingly difficult task of keeping their charges alive. Ancient sorcery and bitter grudges combine to ensnare them. As desperation sets in for the Restoration and Thomas, to where will they turn for hope?

I’m probably biased, but I think the publisher’s artist did an incredible job with the cover! In the center there is symbol of Tislatna, which those of you who have read all the books to this point know is the fallen civilization from which many of the darker elements of the Lowlands trace their origins. The swamp in the background is from one of the book’s key settings, the Isle of Geists. More details on the components of the cover will have to wait till the book’s release.

This is the second QUEST OF FIRE novella and set during the Middle Era (Anargen’s era) events of SHADOWS AT NIGHFALL. It introduces a fresh cast of characters while telling what has become of some major characters already in the series. What makes this book stand out is it’s a lynchpin for the entire series. There are references to all of the previous entries and sets up the stories for both eras in the subsequent books. Crucially, it reveals the primary villain at work in the series. Much of what has happened so far from the standpoint of the bad guys has been effectively puppetry, but this book reveals the dark force driving the rest.

AND capping off a heart-wrenching and sweeping tale is a special treat after the book’s end. A bonus chapter that includes a look into Modern Era (Jason’s era) are up to after the events of SHADOWS AT NIGHTFALL before the next major entry in the series.

So, not to sound too salesy, but you really need to snag the other books in the series while they’re on MAJOR sale at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L446BPJ

I’m still running the special offer of a signed book plate for any books bought and will also send a digital copy of the western world map poster.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out the cover for the latest book in the QUEST OF FIRE!

UP NEXT WEEK: A HERO’S SACRIFICE

QUEST OF FIRE FRIDAY: BIG THINGS AHEAD

This week I have a slew of exciting new things to share! Strictly speaking this isn’t going to be solely about QUEST OF FIRE, as the chart below outlines my publishing schedule (as it stands now) to 2025!

2022

September 13, 2022 – QUEST OF FIRE: DESPERATION   (Book #4/Novella #2)

September 20, 2022 – DAY MOON re-release

October 18, 2022 – VEILED SUN re-release

October 25, 2022 – THE NEAR DISTANT novella collection

December 2022 – QUEST OF FIRE  short story

2023

July 4, 2023 – SILENT STARS (TOMORROW’S EDGE Book #3)

September 26, 2023 – QUEST OF FIRE Book #5/Novel #3

October 2023* – LIGHT UNDIMMED: A DQR NOVELLA

2024

September 17, 2024 – QUEST OF FIRE Book #6/Novella #3

2025

September 16, 2025 – QUEST OF FIRE Book #7/Novel #4

As you can tell, this year looks pretty busy in the back half with releases, which means the first half was also the busiest in a long time. The first major takeaway from the schedule above is that the entire QUEST OF FIRE series is contracted and has release dates set! That also means deadlines are set, so please keep me in your prayers. Thankfully I’ve got the series plotted out to the end, but the Lord is always showing me new valleys to explore between those story peaks, so I’m hopeful that I don’t procrastinate and give the time needed to explore each twist and turn through the Lowlands to its fullest.

The next big thing of note on this is something I’ve kept to myself till now. For those of you who are fans of my dystopian, sci-fi TOMORROW’S EDGE series there was some serious anxiety for me earlier this year when its publisher, Clean Reads, announced its closure. I was really worried the series would get cut off before I could release the final book in that series. Thankfully my QUEST OF FIRE publisher, Expanse Books, offered to pick up the series and republish the first two titles and release the third and final title, SILENT STARS. I’m working on that manuscript right now and for those who know how harrowing a ride VEILED SUN was, it only gets more intense from there. More to come on that later and coming soon, reveals of the new covers for DAY MOON and VEILED SUN!

Last on my list of updates for today is the novella I’m contributing to THE NEAR DISTANT collection. It’s a book of three novellas that tell sci-fi stories about three friends who are transported to different worlds after encountering a mysterious obelisk in the woods. My novella that I refer to as BY FAR AND AWAY tells Tyler’s story. He is dropped onto a world that looks like a utopia but holds a very dark secret. After years trapped on this other world, Tyler has all but given up hope of making it home. In fact, he’s all but given up on living, until he uncovers the secret that world’s super AI couldn’t see and which threatens billions of lives.

For those who want to get ready for QUEST OF FIRE’s future releases, the paperbacks of SUCCESSION and SHADOWS AT NIGHTFALL are under $3.25 each! Grab them now:

Anyone who does can contact me through my website or social media and I’ll mail you a customized bookplate for each book purchased.

UP NEXT WEEK: DESPERATION’S COVER REVEAL

Quest of Fire Friday: About Time

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here for Quest of Fire Friday. A lot of that has to do with the COVID pandemic making my work as an infectious disease informatician crazy for a long, long time. It’s only now calming down to what it was pre-pandemic. Toss in several major deadlines early this year (an announcement related to that is coming with next week’s Quest of Fire Friday ) and it has been tough pulling the time (and myself) together to do these. My hope is to get back into showing you more of the Lowlands and its expansive cultures, history, and stories.

So, to start things off, since I’ve just been bemoaning how much time I have for this, let’s talk about time in Quest of Fire.

1. Time passes roughly the same way it does for us.

2. A day in the Lowlands is about 24 hours just like ours and the year takes roughly 365 days and either four seasons or the rainy and dry seasons common to our world.

3. There are twelve months, but their names are very different from ours:

Month——————-Lowlands Month Names (Inspiration)

January—————— Premgelee (Modified French for “First Frost”)

February—————- Misbyr (Welsh for “Short Month”)

March——————–Villiris (Norwegian for wild iris, which bloom in March)

April———————-Windechel (Made up around the word windy)

May———————-Blomsen (Made up around blooms, ‘April showers bring May flowers’)

June———————–Solfylte (Norwegian for sunny)

July————————Daraleath (Irish for Second Half, referring to the start of the year’s 2nd half)

August——————–Gladiol (Gladiolus is the birth flower of August)

September ————- Aurigids (Meteor shower long held to happen regularly in September)

October —————– Fylleth (Old English for full moon)

November————— Fómhar (Autumn/harvest in Irish)

December————— Gŵylgoleuni (“Festival of light” in Welsh)

For a bit I just want to break to add, why the month names are different. For us English speakers, the month names we have are almost exclusively from ancient Roman names for the months that got carried over from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar we use. Since there’s no place named Rome in the Lowlands and that explicit culture history are absent, the names for months had to be unique. I’m facing something similar for days of the week which are named for Germanic/Scandinavian deities, a Roman titan, and the sun and moon. In all of my world-building workshops, I point out that writing is an act of balance between familiar and fantastic elements. As readers we need something familiar to hold onto and anchor us in the story world so that we can fully appreciate and engage the fantastical aspects of the story. With time keeping you’ll note I stuck with the familiar for #1 and #2, that way when I came to #3 where I had to move into less familiar terms it hopefully isn’t as jarring. Especially because #4 really goes into drastically new frontiers.

4. There are three eras of history in the Lowlands:

Era (Events Starting and Ending the Era)

Ancient (Creation of the Lowlands till the High King’s first coming)

Middle  (The High King’s first coming to the Second Battle of Kirke)

Modern (The Second Battle of Kirke till the end of the Lowlands)

You’ll notice there are triggers for when the Lowlands changed its dating scheme. The key protagonists of Quest of Fire, Anargen and Jason, are from the Middle and Modern Eras respectively. The start date for each teen’s story in Quest of Fire: The Gathering Dark is Daraleath 22, 1605 Middle Era and Fylleth 24, 355 Modern Era. The Middle Era roughly corresponds to the 17th Century AD and the Modern Era the first two decades of the 20th Century AD. With those timing parallels come a host of familiar elements, but interwoven and ensconced in the fantastical history and world of the Lowlands.

NEXT WEEK’S TOPIC: Big Things Ahead